"What on earth was it?" asked the young officer, his eyes travelling
from the bank-note to his _fiancee_.

"Oh, it was harmless enough, and yet you will confess it was very queer.
I had gone out for a walk, but as the snow began to fall I took shelter
under the shed which the workmen have built at the near end of the great
new house. The men have gone, you know, and the owner is supposed to be
coming to-morrow, but the shed is still standing. I was sitting
there upon a packing-case when a man came down the road and stopped
under the same shelter. He was a quiet, pale-faced man, very tall and
thin, not much more than thirty, I should think, poorly dressed, but
with the look and bearing of a gentleman. He asked me one or two
questions about the village and the people, which, of course, I
answered, until at last we found ourselves chatting away in the
pleasantest and easiest fashion about all sorts of things. The time
passed so quickly that I forgot all about the snow until he drew my
attention to its having stopped for the moment. Then, just as I
was turning to go, what in the world do you suppose that he did?
He took a step towards me, looked in a sad pensive way into my face, and
said: `I wonder whether you could care for me if I were without a
penny.' Wasn't it strange? I was so frightened that I whisked out of
the shed, and was off down the road before he could add another word.
But really, Hector, you need not look so black, for when I look back at
it I can quite see from his tone and manner that he meant no harm. He
was thinking aloud, without the least intention of being offensive.
I am convinced that the poor fellow was mad."

"Hum! There was some method in his madness, it seems to me," remarked
her brother.